Here’s the most important number you need to know today: $8 billion. That’s the amount of cash that BP (NYSE: BP) is likely to generate, year-in and year-out, assuming energy prices stay where they are right now. And that number should be kept in mind as investors tally up all… Read More

Rome wasn’t built in a day. That refrain is often employed when management embarks on a turnaround. The problem, though, is that investors may begin to lose their confidence. If they’re forced to wait too long, they may lose hope, sell out and force… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Friday’s early trading are Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK), Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK) and Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD). Top Percentage Gainers — Friday, June 4, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK) $22.39 +16.3%… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Friday’s early trading are Blyth (NYSE: BTH), athenahealth (Nasdaq: ATHN) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (NYSE: BBVA). Top Percentage Losers — Friday, June 4, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Blyth (NYSE: BTH) $40.96 -17.5% $59.93 $25.91… Read More

Stocks with scant analyst coverage often offer opportunity for individual investors to exploit market inefficiencies. The small-cap arena is usually the most fruitful place to uncover these opportunities, but every now and then a firm with a larger market capitalization will fail to get… Read More

After expending a great deal of political capital on health reform, many expected the Obama administration to push off energy and climate legislation into next year. But with the pool of oil growing in the Gulf of Mexico by the day, President Obama has moved his energy legislation agenda back… Read More

One of the pitfalls of being a global brand name is that investors may think of a company as a one-trick pony that captured lightning in a bottle. They may think a company has leveraged its brand to a point where one can find its product in the most remote… Read More

Investors have been parsing retail sales data for May, but if they want to know the real direction for the group, they’ll need to check out the monthly snapshot of employment trends, which will be released Friday morning. The U.S. economy has begun adding… Read More

On April 26, the Dow hit a 52-week high of 11,258.01. It lost -11.0% through June 2 and has since clawed back some ground but remains -8.5% below its late-April high point. We lived through some big swings in May. Those big moves don’t look like they will abate in the near-term: The “Fear Index,” a measure of investor sentiment based on options trading, has risen to 30 today from 22 in late April, signaling investors are increasingly edgy and uncertain. The soft economic recovery at home and troubles in… Read More

On April 26, the Dow hit a 52-week high of 11,258.01. It lost -11.0% through June 2 and has since clawed back some ground but remains -8.5% below its late-April high point. We lived through some big swings in May. Those big moves don’t look like they will abate in the near-term: The “Fear Index,” a measure of investor sentiment based on options trading, has risen to 30 today from 22 in late April, signaling investors are increasingly edgy and uncertain. The soft economic recovery at home and troubles in Greece and Spain and elsewhere aren’t helping anything, nor is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a climate like this, when the market has the opportunity to cathartically dispel its anxiety, it will generally take it — and send prices plummeting. But despite the challenging environment, a select basket of stocks are still delivering tremendous returns. Even on the market’s worst days, some securities are actually rising in price, sometimes substantially. Great stocks can see their shares gain a lot of ground in a… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE), Pier One (NYSE: PIR) and Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) $5.25 +23.0% $8.87 $3.03 Pier One (NYSE: PIR) $8.35 +12.7% $9.81 $1.65 Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG) $54.40 +3.7% $65.93 $30.19 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE), Pier One (NYSE: PIR) and Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) $5.25 +23.0% $8.87 $3.03 Pier One (NYSE: PIR) $8.35 +12.7% $9.81 $1.65 Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG) $54.40 +3.7% $65.93 $30.19 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:32AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Exide Moves on From Wal-Mart Back in early February, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) notified Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) that it would no longer carry Exide’s line of automotive batteries. That news caused Exide’s shares to plunge -30% in one day to around $5, and they had been falling ever since, touching $4 in recent sessions. That’s what happens when you lose your largest… Read More